Study Explores Use of Humor in Communicating Gene Editing

Public engagement is one of the key strategies in governing controversial scientific topics such as gene editing. However, informing and engaging individuals who are uninterested in such topics can be challenging. Thus, recent research, such as the one published in Plos One journal, suggests that adding humor could help close interest and knowledge gaps.

The Plos One article titled CRISPR is Easy was authored by April Eichmeier from the Department of Emerging Media, University of St. Thomas, USA, and Michael Xenos from the Department of Life Sciences Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. They explored the impact of watching Last Week Tonight with John Oliver episode that covered CRISPR. During the episode, Oliver answered what gene editing is and why citizens should care about it.

Results showed that while exposure to the Last Week Tonight clip did not affect the viewers' attentiveness to the issue of gene editing, exposure to the humorous short video improved their level of knowledge on the topic.

According to the researchers, more studies are necessary but findings suggest that humor as a tool for science communication could potentially benefit public engagement with emerging areas of science.

Read the open-access article in Plos One.